


Cursing the Red Jacket

by DrakeAnnDisorderly



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Lucifer Redemption, Monster of the Week, No Porn, No Smut, Plot, Possession, Star Trek References, Yes AZ just repainted their trooper vehicles and they look nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 14:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12750390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrakeAnnDisorderly/pseuds/DrakeAnnDisorderly
Summary: Monster of the Week styled fic and a first of that kind for me.The main character is my creation and loosely based on a moderately known social icon we all love that goes by AKFJeff: PugfatherJeffThere's a strangeness going on in this small Arizona town that seems to have started about the same time a blue eyed fella showed up claiming to be the devil.





	1. Chapter 1

Jefferies sat in the early morning stillness of the diner. His eyes puffed and heavy, tucked well under his wide brimmed hat, stayed nearly unblinking and watching the front door. Nothing came for him. Something was coming. Or had already come. So he watched. Nearly jumping out of his skin when the waitress abruptly set a fresh cup of coffee in front of him, his head snapped up to look at her.  
  
Not meeting the glare, she looked absently at her notepad, "Is that going to be it, Mister? Just the coffee?"  
  
Jefferies squinted to read her nametag, sighed, and returned his focus towards the door again. Speaking through clenched teeth, "You’re new here, aren’t you? Yes, Kaytlyn, just the coffee." Realizing how abrasive he was sounding, his tone softened and his jaw relaxed, "At this hour it will always be "just coffee" for me." She trailed away without further interaction.  
  
Shivering slightly, Jefferies wrapped his hands around the porcelain mug. The warmth poured in to his bones. It felt good. Flexing his stiff fingers briefly, they returned promptly to their natural curve around the cup and brought it to his lips. It smelled good and was a sorely welcomed heat filling his body. Absentmindedly picking at a chip in the rim, he couldn’t remember ordering it but he was glad it was there.  
  
Kaytlyn floated through the empty space to refill the cup three times without a word and continued on back to the kitchen like clockwork. Nothing came for him.  
  
The morning became more apparent as the small town began to wake up and Jefferies started to walk back to his motel. It was a brisk sunrise and he held his layered jackets close. The tails of the top threadbare corduroy lifted and twisted in the growing breeze. Mornings were always chilly this time of year before the sun warmed the valley. This valley… it seemed to hold on to the last of everything here. The old out-numbered the young 5 to 1. Only the main street through town was paved. It was quiet and simple here and that’s what Jefferies liked. He liked life to be simple.  
  
His thoughts wandered, as did his feet down the sidewalk, having forgotten about the last hours at the diner. Until a few years ago he had lived in a big city. Everything was always moving. All the suits and ties and traffic and liquid lunches to keep things fluid and flowing smoothly and never ending. It wore on the mind and body. At times it seemed like weeks would disappear. And they may as well have vanished. Life was so automatic in the city. But here…  
  
Jefferies stopped walking. Closing his eyes tight, he lifted his head to the clearing blue skies and took a deep breath in through his nose, letting it sting his lungs a bit before exhaling. This place felt good for the soul. And it was. Opening his eyes again Jefferies continued to walk the remaining few blocks home to his motel outside of town.  
  
Just as he had left it… he laughed a bit to himself now not remembering when he had parked his car there. Mumbling that it must have been a good weekend having not have been able to remember where he had parked the car as he fumbled for his door key. The auto shop didn’t open for another few hours, which gave him plenty of time for a shower and to drain some of that coffee from his system. Small town life was nice. It started late and ended early. Quiet and uneventful, just the way he liked it.  
  
Stretching out some back kinks in the fogged up bathroom, the faint drain of a single siren could be heard through the thin walls, creeping across the valley floor. So very few notable things happen in this place on the edge of nothing, when an alarm sounds it is as distracting as an infant screaming in church. Unavoidable to tune out, but nothing ever more than interesting that a mountain lion getting the drop on a hunter or someone trying to drive through buffalo. Jefferies could not help but stop what he was doing to watch the door. The siren wailed past and faded off again but the feeling something was coming had manifested in that time. He stared at the door for several minutes. Shaking himself free of the daze and the towel, he readied for work trying not to think about it.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The air had warmed enough for the two bay doors of the shop to be open wide, letting the light flood in and the day moved lazily along. The sun beating in on him, Jefferies was stretched elbow deep under the hood of a Ford Tempo that he’d been swearing at it for the better part of the day. Neighbors going about their own day would stop occasionally on their walks to glance in the shop and give their personal expert advice on what was wrong or how things should be done.

Blind-sided by a roll of muffler tape to the back of one knee, he pulled himself free of the compartment and rested his forearms on the fender shaking his head. Eyeing the roll of tape rolling away, "Emery, you have got to stop hitting me with stuff while I’m trying to fix these piles of shit." He straightened up and arched backwards a bit to let go the pent up tension.

Emery, who some had said was older than the town itself when Jeffries first arrived, just hollered from the other end of the shop that it was lunchtime. He was crotchety but honest. And, to Jefferies’ mild annoyance, swore they could fix anything. It wasn’t a lie. He’d been able to fix everything that came through the door. The tradeoff being it didn’t matter how long it took which in turn kept the work on a steady flow. That earned enough for lodging and groceries each week.

That’s when he first saw the stranger. Leaning against the front counter, polishing an apple on an untucked shirttail, "Emery?"

Not looking up from his receipt book, "Whatcha need, Jeffery?"

"Jefferies, Emery. It’s Jefferies. You know this. There’s an S at the end. Like there’s more than one of me."

Emery looked over his glasses. "Well I’m only paying one of you."

Jefferies tipped his head directing Emery’s attention out the door. "Who’s the guy on the bench across the street, Emery?"

Emery pushed his glasses up and squinted thru the open door. "That sandy haired fella?" Emery went back to his book. "He showed up in to town yesterday afternoon." Emery ticked off a few lines in his ledger then paused. "He’s staying at the same motel you are."

Jefferies stopped mid-bite, looking out at the stranger. The stranger sat watching them. The occasional breeze would toss a small tuft of hair about or softly billow the front of his shirt. One leg remained bent, boot heel-up on the opposite jean clad knee. Jefferies could see the stranger’s jaw clench as he swallowed a few times during what had become an unexpected stare down.

Emery broke the trance, "Back to work, Jeffery. This is the last job I have for you today." He waved his hands in the opposite direction of town, "Shut down the road for something. No cars in or out."

Looking back out to the bench, he swore the stranger whom was still watching had winked at him before standing up and strolling the rest of the way in to town. "Did you just see that, Em?"

Nose in the book again, "What? No. I see nothing. Blind as a bat. Wasn’t looking anyways. Go finish the car, Jeffery"

Jefferies looked out where the stranger had sat for what must have been a fair part of the morning and the entirety of his lunch. "That’s just weird."

A pencil whizzed by his face. "CAR."


	3. Chapter 3

By mid afternoon the Tempo was running well enough to call it done and not think twice about it. "You’re free to scamper off, Jeffery. I’ll give you a call at the motel when I need you back." Emery leaned forward on the peeling linoleum counter with crossed arms, peering toward town. “Jackie down at the drug store called and says the road is still closed. Says some young gal got the business end of a mountain lion. Sliced to pieces she said." He went back to shuffling things about on the desk. "Probably got too close to a den."

 

Degreased and punched out, Jefferies meandered towards the diner under the still warm skies for an early dinner. The town was all a buzz with warm smiles and side-eye rumors. Nothing exciting ever happens here. But on the off chance it does, everyone knows.

Grabbing a seat at the far end, Jefferies propped himself sideways in the booth. Business had picked up a bit since no one could drive out of town. Kaytlyn walked up in a huff. "What can I get you, Mister?" Her makeup was faded and apron spattered with random colors of food.

"Oh. I’m sorry? Hi. You’re still here?" Unlike this morning, Jefferies opened with a genuinely warm smile. It was, however, not matched.

"For the millionth time, yes. Yes, I am still here. The girl who was supposed to be here is dead. No, I did not know her. No, there was no one else to take the shift. Yes, it is busier than normal and I am happy to take tips in place of your sympathy of my distress. What do you want?"

His warmth melted away. "I’ll make it easy. The cheeseburger and fry basket." Writing things down as she began to walk away Jefferies called out, "AND A COFFEE!" She raised an index finger in what he assumed was acknowledgment.

Lost in daydreams looking out the window, the coffee came quickly and the food soon followed. Glancing around at the bodies sliding past one another the weight suddenly settled on him again. Something was coming. Or here. Something was here. His eyes bounced at a frantic pace from one face to another. To himself, just under a whisper, "What’s wrong with me? What am I looking for?" His breathing grew quick and shallow.

Jefferies closed and rubbed his eyes. In his head he could hear his lungs wheezing. Trying to shut everything out, he took several long slow breaths. Laying his palms down on the table, he slowly opened his eyes again to what seemed like the impossible.

The entire diner was moving in slow motion. Not at a lazy pace. Actually slowed down. Jefferies sat fully upright in the booth looking at his hands and then the street outside. The whole world had slowed. The weight returned in force. Something was here. Something was waiting for him. Waiting for him to do something. But what is he supposed to do? He yelled out "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Nothing changed pace. The feeling coiled around him tighter. It was almost suffocating. He fought to take a breath. His arms too heavy to lift against this invisible assailant, all he could do was plead with his eyes to the unseeing masses moving about.

Looking across faces that lined the booths running to the far end of the diner they were all oblivious. No one saw him struggling. Is this what death is like he wondered. Should he continue to struggle? At that moment heads leaned or turned just proper to clear a thin rift to the opposite wall. In that fraction of time that slowed to what felt like eternity. His eyes met the stranger’s staring back at him. Clear as day while the rest of the world blurred and twisted. Time stilled yet further.

Jefferies sucked in half a breath trying to hang on to it. The stranger’s brow threaded together as he cocked his head to one side with a look of concern and confusion. Sections of the longer spiked hair fell softly to the side. Those faded denim pools seem to look straight through Jefferies. But they were moving in real time. Everything about him was moving, as it should. But it shouldn’t. How was he still moving if this was death?

Jefferies eyes went wide. "How...?" It was more of an action than an actual spoken word that had escaped his lips. With that the stranger sat upright with an amused smile quickly drawing across his face. Given a single wink, just as he had done from the bench, time released like a tidal wave.

Jefferies right elbow and knuckles instantly slammed in to the window with the unmoving weight removed. The sound, like a giant gong, reverberated through the diner and everyone turned to look. Confused but more embarrassed, Jefferies scrambled to his feet, tossing a few bills on the table for the meal and wove his way towards the other end of the diner. As soon as time resumed he had lost sight of the guy who had moved in time with him.

The booth was empty. Jefferies thoughts began to numb and drift while the constant voices around him turned to white noise. He needed out. He absently began pushing his way to the door. How could this many people be here? How has he never seen this many people in town at once? He needed open space and fresh air. Something, not here, to clear his head.

Outside again the sun had begun to sink in the sky. Jefferies took a few quieting breaths and began to walk, occasionally stumbling over his own feet. The entire trek home he was watching for the blue-eyed devil to reappear. That man had to be the cause of this. Everything was fine before he came to town. Jefferies swore over and over again that he was not going mad. Through the door, kicking off his boots, and burying his face in the pillows, Jefferies left the day far behind him. Drifting off, it felt like the best decision he had made all day.


	4. Chapter 4

Jefferies felt cold to the core when sleep faded away. And damn it was bright in here. He reluctantly opened his eyes. In temporary blindness, he stared directly in to the sun. An outstretched hand to block out the intrusion struck a force field. He tried again and failed. "What the hell?" He vigorously rubbed the palms of his hands across his face and put one up again smacking cold glass. Trying to sit up, everything hurt. 

A few moments to take in his surroundings, Jefferies decided he had gone mad. Sitting in his car it had to be 50 degrees out. Not sitting. He was sleeping. He lay back in to the reclined seat. "Why am I sleeping in the car? I don’t remember going anywhere. I don’t even remember drinking. Was I drinking?" He put his hands up in a soft defense, "Why am I asking myself if I was drinking if I already can’t remember?"

Jefferies painfully up-righted the seat. He had no idea what time it was but the sun was up and had started to warm the valley. Emery hadn’t sent anyone in search of him for work. "Oh." He smirked to himself, "Maybe that’s why I’m hiding out in the car."

Rubbing his face into his palms again, trying to shake the chills and last of the sleep out of his system, Jefferies heard it again. It was the same as the day before. They were still a short distance out but there were certainly more this time. The wails of sirens poured down through the valley. As with any small town, this was something rare and interesting. Everyone that wasn’t already out and about would swing open doors and windows to watch whatever was happening.

Jefferies climbed out of his car, pulling his hat from the back seat to minamalize the impact on his retinas. Standing quietly he listened. The sound was nearly deafening by the time the State Troopers rounded the final corner towards town. No less than 4 black and bronze branded vehicles blazed in to and through town. Jefferies looked on after them as dust stirred and twisted in their tracks. Sirens screamed and faded. No one stopped.

A voice came from behind him. "I like the new colors. Don’t you?"

Jefferies spun on his heels to turn coming face to face the stranger that he had lost in the diner when his self proclaimed madness had begun to take a concerning hold.

"Whoooa. Steady there."

"Wh… what? Who are you?" Jefferies raised his hands to distance himself from those intense blue eyes. "Don’t hurt me!"

A small humored laugh sang from deep beyond, "That’s a good one."

"Huh?" Jefferies stopped back-stepping, glancing around.

"Oh. You were serious?" Taking a step forward, rubbing his hands together, "I now feel oddly obligated to inform you that I don’t take requests."

"Take requests? I don’t… Who ARE you?" Swiftly the weight circled Jefferies like a constrictor.

His eyes thinned to piercing bars. "Lucifer, if you must know." He began talking with his hands, inching forward. "But you can call me Luci. I know. Girl's name. Don’t really care. I like it. Goes with the wings. Huge and pink." Luci stopped for a moment to repeat the joke in his head and laugh to himself. "Shuddup. That’s funny. Still. Truthfully, don’t care about that… Now… What I do care about is who are YOU exactly?" Less than a foot apart, all advancing movement stopped.

Immobilized and struggling to breathe, "I’m… Jefferies."

"No. He’s Jefferies. Who are YOU?" Luci began to circle, "Hold still will you?"

Jefferies fought for a breath, the weight constricting more. "I’mmmnot movin."

"Shhhhh Jefferies. We’re trying to have a conversation here." Luci rounded him twice more, eyeing him top to toes. "Well," Luci shrugged, "I’m trying to have a conversation. It’s the polite thing to do." Walking to the back of Jefferies, "You’re not one of mine… He is… but you… you are not… so where did you come from? Why are you…."

Jefferies dropped to the ground.

"Well that was rude." Luci lifted Jefferies by an arm and walked him in to his motel room letting him crumple again on the floor. Leaning down, yelling in to an ear, "I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT, COME OUT!" He gave three sturdy raps to the top of Jefferies skull.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!" Jefferies’ eyes shot open and he began swatting Luci away, loosely cupping a soft hand over the ear that Luci had just yelled in to. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU??" Rolling on to his knees.

A chuckle burst from Luci and he stepped back.

Jefferies just kneeled in his spot on the floor, glaring. Hands pressed firmly against his thighs.

"Oh. OH! You’re being serious again, aren’t you? I thought… never mind. Not important.” Luci spun around, chewing absently on a fingernail, and began pacing. "Jefferies…" He paused and spun to face, pointing, "See how I’m addressing you? You can feel free to answer those." Spinning back in to where he left off his pacing, "Jefferies…" raising a knowing eyebrow in his direction, "Where were you last night?"

Jefferies did not answer the question. He clenched his jaw slightly, "Who are you?"

Luci stopped pacing. Looking sideways over his shoulder, "Did we not cover this already?" He took two determined steps towards Jefferies on the floor and bent at the waste to meet his eyes. "Were you not listening?" Cocking his head to one side, not breaking eye contact, "Hmm?" The denim pools bored through Jefferies’ thoughts as he tried to focus.

Jefferies hesitated, trying to recall things that didn’t seem to be there. His eyes fell to the floor. Just then a glimmering light flickered in his mind and he returned to face Luci. "What did you mean when you said, and I’m just assuming you meant me, that I was one of yours. What did you mean by that?"

Luci unbent and kneeled to mimic Jefferies form in front of him. His eyes softened; a beaming smile spread across his face. "You were listening!" In a moments flash, Luci’s voice changed to that of a teenage girl with giggling squeals of joy. His hands clasp to his collarbone and his shoulders perched up close to his ears. "OH. MY. DAD." His eyes rolled skyward and his head bobbed with each syllable, "I. AM. SO. PROUD. OF. YOU." The last word was emphasized with a playful push against Jefferies chest with both hands that sent him forcefully rolling backwards in to the wall.

Luci on his knees walked in short steps over to Jefferies new spot, his mocking demeanor now gone from the room. Fingers woven together hung loosely in front of him as he waited for Jefferies to right himself again before continuing.

Jefferies sat against the wall; one foot squarely on the floor in front of him with his knee towards the ceiling and the other lay to one side. It would seem unintentional but it gave him the thin illusion of maintaining a little space between himself and Luci. None of this was happening. This was madness. No other explanation.

"Hmmm. Okay. Still unbelieving, huh?" Luci let out a heavy sigh and lifted his chin up. "Tell me brave captain, why are the wicked so strong, how do the angels get to sleep, when the Devil leaves the porch light on?" The lights in the room brightened and flared to a blinding white and then all, in unison, burst in a brilliant firework display of sparks leaving the room an inking blackness as the last ember bounced across the floor and died. "No one appreciates the lyrics of Tom Waits anymore." Luci angelically raised his hands and the light gently returned to the room.

Jefferies backed himself as close to the wall as he could. If he could crawl in to it he would take that option. This is madness.

Luci leaned forwards a bit, "Who am I, Jefferies?" He waited expressionless.

Jefferies remained frozen and unblinking.

"Come on. Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell? Shakespeare? No? Okay how about when you're in hell, only a devil can point the way out?" Luci thought to himself, a finger pressed to his lips, "Maybe Joe Abercrombie is too obscure for you." His finger began to tap lightly against his chin. "OH! I got one you should know!" Luci scampered to the armchair on the other side of the room and excitedly perched on the seat. "There's only room for one hero in this story and everyone knows the devil doesn't get to be the good guy." He waited with visible anticipation.

Jefferies started to stand giving him a starting point when he had the chance to run. "You’re…" The words came slowly. "You’re Lucifer."

Pride flowed from Luci, "YES! See? I knew you’d get the line from Horns." He bowed as best he could from his position, arms spread wide. "And don’t think about running." Looking up from his bow, "You need me and I can fly."

"Fly. Right. Huge pink wings. Lucifer has pink wings because this is madness. Why wouldn’t he?"

A moment of clear thought circled the room. Luci saw the gears fitting together and waited.

Giving in to the moment, "Why do I need you exactly?"

Luci crossed his ankles, sitting on them now in the chair. "Where were you last night?"

"Sleeping here," pointing to the bed.

Feigning confusion, "You were?" He pressed, "But how can you be sure when you woke up outside?"

Jefferies knew he didn’t have an answer. In all honesty there were days he couldn’t remember anything that he had done. "Sleepwa…gaaaah" The weight suddenly coiled around him, pinning his limbs in place. He could hardly breathe.

Luci rose off his chair, head lowered, and began circling. "I can tell you with out a shadow of a doubt, my dearest Jefferies, that you, the YOU that you know, were in fact not here last night."

Jefferies flexed and fought to ease the pressure being applied to his ribs. "That... that makes no sense." He pressed against his restraints. "None of this makes sense."

Luci stopped prowling and started to rake his fingers randomly through the empty space surrounding Jefferies. "You have been very bad, haven’t you? You too, Jefferies."

Adrenaline began to overtake his senses causing tears to well up in his eyes. "I didn’t do anything."

Luci came about to face him, leaning in almost too close. "Oh, yes, you most certainly did. You killed…" His eyes shifted to look past Jefferies’ shoulder and then back to him, "19 people." He took a step back, "Really? Only 19? Honestly I kind of expected it to be a lot higher." His tone lightened despite the words as he waggled a finger, "You will not get any bonus points from me for moderation." He came back to an all too close stance, looking deep in to Jefferies’ crying eyes.

Tears began to trace lines down Jefferies’ cheeks, changing the color of his shirt where they tumbled and crashed. "I didn’t hurt anyone." Tighter yet, He couldn’t breathe.

Luci leaned in, resting his forehead against the warm brow of the slowly suffocating frame where once a simple man had stood. He closed his eyes and pulled him in to a tight embrace. His voice came as a whisper and carried no edge. There were no underlying playful nips in his words. "It wasn’t supposed to…" His chest heaved in to Jefferies’ as he let go a heavy sigh. "This is not the burden you were meant to bear, Jefferies."

Jefferies could feel his last breath was near. The pressure was too much. He could see the darkness slinking in to the edges of his vision. There was nothing left he could do but accept this fate. This was how he would end. Letting it all go, he began to sob.

Luci pulled back to face him, gripping a fallen shoulder firmly in each, hand holding Jefferies upright. His eyes already bright with hope began to burn like wildfire embers; a devious grin curling the fine edges of his lips. The light within the room increased and the walls faded away. Luci looked deep in to Jefferies’ being and winked, silently mouthing the words not your time.

In a fluid motion Luci’s hands shifted, burning with indescribable intensity. One hand supportably slid to the back of Jefferies’ neck as the palm of the other pressed hard in to his forehead.

Jefferies could not look away when he saw Luci’s eyes burning bright as the winter sun in the valley. He felt the billowing of great wings violently shifting the air around him.

In a moment that felt as if time was standing still, all the crushing weight vanished. The world was dark and empty. That is if this was the world. Maybe this was what death was like; a big mess of nothingness. Jefferies rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes and saw stars.

A weary voice came from behind him. “That was weird, right? HA! The pure impudence of that thing.” The light around them was building slowly and one could make out that they were back in the motel room again. Luci was sitting on the floor, back to the wall, head rolling to one side to look up at Jefferies.

He took a place on the floor near by, and slouched against the wall too. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Luci thought on his answer for a moment, pursing his lips together. "I’m good." Luci padded down his chest and legs, "Yup. Well… physically doing as good as one could expect." He let his head fall back in to the wall with a thud. "You ever watch the old Star Trek, Jefferies?"

"Ummm… yes?"

Luci slapped the floor between, "Well, you lucky guy, you… well and myself too, I guess… just learned that Redjacs do exist." There was a heavy pause in his amusement, "I’m not sure how." He turned with a warm smile, "But you’re good now. Won’t have any days go missing. Trust me." Luci laughed to himself, "That thing is soooo far away. The gall of it." Luci huffed. "I tried to be civil. I did."

Jefferies rolled his head against the rough paint to stare at the warm glow of the desk lamp, mindlessly tracing lines through the heavy carpet. "So… what now? I’m going to wake up tomorrow and this will all have been a dream?"

Luci stood and walked in front of him, hand extended. Jefferies hesitated and then took it. Luci pulled him sharply to his feet and into another embrace. Holding him tight, "You will remember. All of this. And when you do, remember three things." Luci took a step back to look him in the face again, poking Jefferies in the chest with a stern index finger marking each point of his decree. "Remember ONE, and most important I’ll add, that’s why it’s number one, I wasn’t the bad guy. TWO… umm… what was two… oh TWO only the special ones get a second chance."

Luci quickly turned towards the door to leave when Jefferies reached out to stop him. "You said I had to remember three things. What’s the third?"

Luci padded and laid a soft hand on Jefferies shoulder and spoke softly, "Three? Three is the most important one. Three is to remember that what you do today can improve all of your tomorrows." He let his hand fall free and slid through the door, closing it behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Leaving kudos and comments are like feeding goldfish - without them we just die off.


End file.
